[flashback] Opposed Elements [Elisse]

[Hadrian]

Trying to maintain his Auristic vision while fine-tuning his still crude control of his res made his vision go a little funny and his body start to heat up. He assumed that, whether or not this worked, he was going to need to rest before they tried anything else, or else call it a day. He never could seem to stick to the basics when there was someone else there with him. "On go, then." He gave her a moment, then, "One. Two. Three. Go." On go, he transmuted his res into water, pushing it toward the already soaked wall, hoping that whatever happened, there was enough water from his sloppy work to put out any extraneous fires she caused. But first it remained to see whether they could make steam together...

[Elisse]

She had tried her best not to wind too much res through Hadrian's, now all that would remain was to see if it had worked. She quickly looked back to their res-made helix, returning her full concentration to it. She could feel herself tiring, her mind was beginning to struggle to stay focused. On Hadrian's 'go', she changed her res into fire, pushing it away from her at the same time. For a moment, the two elements seemed to just hang side-by-side, completely separate from one another. Then, her fire burst outwards and into the water. Thankfully, she hadn't given it excess res, and in a second, the water had taken most of it up and...yes, Hadrian had been exactly right. They had made steam. The res that hadn't been transmuted fell to the floor. Elisse bent slightly and put her hands on her knees, head falling forwards. That had worn her out. If they were going to carry on, then she would most definitely need a sit-down first.

[Hadrian]

Hadrian was exhausted too, but he had a little, triumphant smile on his face before he sat down cross-legged with his head hanging down to recuperate a bit. They were neither of them amazing, accomplished reimancers, but it appeared that they could manage some things and improve upon what they had. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched the excess res begin to dissipate. That was sloppy, of course, but he wasn't sure if it was his or hers. He was determined not to waste from then on, however, because precision was so important and he didn't want to overgive. They were warned constantly against the dangers of overtaxing their souls with magical endeavors and he had taken it to heart. "Well," he said slowly, strain evident in his voice, "we can blend, but I don't think I have the strength to battle yet, and... that's probably for the better. I don't think we have the control to do it safely yet. Perhaps someday, though."

[Elisse]

Elisse was staring fixedly at the floor, her vision slowly clearing out. She had never used quite so much res in one burst before and it had worn her out. She heard Hadrian sit near her, so she too sank to the floor next to him. Her eyes caught a small smile on his face, but it was fleeting, and she followed his gaze over to the vanishing res. She didn't know whose it was, but she never wanted to waste res again. She gave a light laugh. "I think there may well be a horrible accident if we try a battle now." She turned slightly to look at him. "But in the future, watch out." She grinned, before pinching the bridge of her nose. "But the steam was really good, nice idea Hadrian." She'd never really thought of blending elements before, and she was truly glad that he had suggested it. Her mind wandered back slightly, to the start of their meeting. She was certain that he had been using Auristics of some kind. That was something that she desperately wanted to learn. She glanced at him curiously. "You know Auristics, right?"

[Hadrian]

"Agreed, then. No battles." At least he wouldn't have to court real overgiving in order to keep up with her. She was more advanced that he was at this; that was already clear. It was nice not to have his face rubbed in it the way Zan would have. He just nodded in acceptance of her praise. There were times he would rest on his laurels as a defense against others, but he wasn't really all that proud. Things came to him sometimes, and he couldn't always take credit for intuition. He glanced at her, then nodded. "Eh, well. I can See, but it's all really vague and chaotic. Like I could see your colors... maybe get an idea of your mood... but anyone who's observant could probably do that. If I keep up at it, hopefully I'll grow more skilled. I like to see what I'm doing."

[Elisse]

She nodded as Hadrian confirmed her thoughts. Despite him saying he wasn't too skilled, he was most definitely way ahead of her. She had tried once, without much success. She recalled the moment that she'd seen a flash of blue surrounding a stranger in the library, but that was the only time one of her many attempts had yielded results. "Perhaps...you might be able to show me sometime?" Her question was rather tentative, she wasn't entirely sure if Hadrian would want to meet up again, but she could only ask and find out. "I'd love to be able to See." Her words were almost wistful and her head titled to the left ever so slightly as she looked at him. "If I were to try and keep a straight face, you know, try and hide my emotion from you, do you think you would be able to tell what I was feeling from my aura?"

[Hadrian]

"Well," he said thoughtfully, thoughts coming slow from overtaxing his mind with reimancy, "I suppose I could guide you through some of the meditations that are supposed to... you know, help." He just nodded to what she said. Most of their colleagues wanted to See; it was a handy tool considering how dependent they all were on their eyes. Unfortunately, he was not an adept at it, merely schooling himself with the help of a few professors and Azilis. "I wouldn't attempt it just at the moment, or I'd probably make my skull explode. But I might be able to empathize if your emotions were strong enough to make bold changes in your aura, yes."

[Elisse]

Elisse nodded slowly as Hadrian spoke. She never really meditated at all, and she supposed it was something that she should probably learn. Sure, she calmed her mind when she performed reimancy, but it was not really the same thing. "That would be really great." She paused to consider him for a moment. "I never really meditate much, it would probably help me a lot to learn." She then shook her head slightly. "Of course, don't want you overgiving on me." She gave him a smile. "But if you ever wanted to try something like that out, I'd be more than happy to help you." She was quite enjoying herself, despite the tiredness she was experiencing from using so much res in one go. She had never worked one-on-one with a fellow student before; she was either on her own in the courtyard, or on her own in the library. Elisse tried not to frown at herself. She seemed to be a little bit of a social recluse. All the same, it was refreshing to have a conversation with someone like Hadrian.

[Hadrian]

Recluse, of course, was Hadrian's middle name. He was either in class, in the library, in one of the training rooms, or in his home studying. Sometimes he would walk through town to get his blood flowing and his mind awake and alert, helping him get out of mental ruts and think more creatively, but he was generally by himself. He wasn't even sure most people knew his name, but he didn't really think about it too much. People were divided into two groups: those who could teach him something, and those who could not. He was mostly interested in the former group. He considered the offer more completely then. Working with Azilis on many occasions had helped him learn certain things more quickly; namely, personal disciplines. He hadn't the natural talent for them that he seemed to have for the world disciplines or, at least, magecrafting. Practice always makes perfect, however, and this would be practice. "We'll do something soon," he said, nodding. "You read up on it, I'll talk you through a meditation, and while I do, I'll do a little reimancy. It'll give me practice and it'll light up my aura so it's easier to see."

[Elisse]

Elisse waited while Hadrian formulated an answer. She took another look round the room. The little water that had not evaporated in the heat from the fire and steam was starting to clear up now, only a couple tiny puddles - if you could call them that - were left. She returned her attention to him when he started to answer her. She too nodded. She made a mental reminder to stop by the library on her way back up to her room. She would also have to resist checking out a book with advanced Auristics. She always had a habit of trying to start off at the deep end, and it didn't always work. "Thank you Hadrian." She gave him a warm smile. His teaching of meditation, even just one technique, would probably also come in handy. She had no trouble with her mind during reimancy, but she figured that Auristics were a whole other game. ooc : Do you want to wrap it up here? Then we can do another one for the Auristics if you like (: